Department for Business and Trade

Guide Dogs: Hudderfield

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department has taken to ensure that guide dog owners have equal access to businesses in Huddersfield in the last 12 months.

Kevin Hollinrake: Strong protection already exists in the Equality Act 2010, which places a duty on businesses and service providers to make reasonable adjustments to improve disabled people’s access to goods and services so they are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled people.Anybody who thinks that they have been discriminated against in the services offered to them - including where access to an assistance dog has been refused - can take legal action to resolve the issue. Before doing so, they might first find it useful to contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) which provides free bespoke advice and in-depth support to individuals with discrimination concerns via their website - http://www.equalityadvisoryservice.com/, or by telephone on 0808 800 0082 or by text phone on 0808 800 0084

Department for Business and Trade: Public Consultation

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, which consultations published by their Department are awaiting a response; and when each of those responses (a) were initially planned to and (b) will be published.

Nigel Huddleston: Policy teams across the Department for Business and Trade consult regularly during the policy development and implementation cycle. Information is available on gov.uk on all open and closed consultations published by the Department for Business and Trade, including the closing date for open consultations and, where available, the Government's response. The Cabinet Office has published best practice ‘consultation principles’ for Government Departments.

Department of Health and Social Care

Blood: Contamination

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if it remains his Department's policy to increase the Infected Blood Support Schemes in line with inflation from 1 April 2023.

Maria Caulfield: The Department has committed to increasing the financial support to beneficiaries of the Infected Blood Support Schemes in line with inflation from 1 April 2023.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Danny Kruger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the independent report entitled JCVI statement on the COVID-19 vaccination programme for 2023, updated on 27 January 2023, on what evidential basis the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has proposed including children over the age of (a) 12 who are household contacts of people with immunosuppression and (b) 16 who are carers in the targeted primary course covid-19 vaccination programme in 2023, in the context of the effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing transmission.

Maria Caulfield: The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) report does not contain any evidential basis for proposed cohorts, as it was interim advice. The considerations for any future decisions will be part of future JCVI reports and meeting minutes.Current COVID-19 vaccines may provide some short-term protection against infection and onwards transmission, weekly surveillance reports can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccine-weekly-surveillance-reports This may reduce the risk of transmission from household contacts to immunosuppressed individuals who are at high risk of complications, and who may not directly benefit from vaccination. It will also reduce the risk of serious disease in carers, which, if they were to fall ill, may compromise the welfare of those they care for. The advice within the JCVI interim statement of 25 January 2023 is that primary course COVID-19 vaccination should move, over the course of 2023, towards a more targeted offer to protect those persons at higher risk of severe COVID-19. The vaccination programme can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccination-programme-for-2023-jcvi-interim-advice-8-november-2022  Since the JCVI interim statement of 25 January 2023, the JCVI published a statement on 7 March 2023, which contained detail of the spring 2023 booster programme which can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spring-2023-covid-19-vaccination-programme-jcvi-advice-22-february-2023 The JCVI advice for the spring 2023 booster programme does not include primary or booster vaccinations for the groups referred to in this question.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Hong Kong: Diplomatic Relations

Sir Iain Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic privileges will be available to officials from Hong Kong visiting the UK in April 2023.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: Visiting officials, including from Hong Kong, who are not members of a mission or consular post in the UK are not covered under the Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic and Consular Relations.